Banana business: market price twice the price declared at customs

Businesses import bananas to Moldova at 10 lei per kilogram, yet the final consumer gets the fruit at double that price, or even more. Some outlets sell bananas at 25lei/kg. Replying to an inquiry by Info-Prim Neo, the Customs Service said that over 700 tonnes of bananas were imported from Ecuador to Moldova in September, and the price declared at the customs was of 10lei/kg. Foreign press earlier reported that banana shipments will fall by almost 10%, since the main banana exporter, Ecuador, was hit by heavy rainfalls that destroyed a large share of the crops. According to Customs Service data, in September, Moldova imported 280 tonnes more than in August, when the stated price of the fruit was of 9 lei per kilo. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry communicated that Moldova annually imports over 13,000 tonnes of bananas, 9,000 tonnes of which are from Ecuador. Inga Ionesii, head of the Ministry of Economy's Trade Division, told Info-Prim Neo that businesses set a smaller price for the imported fruit, in order to pay a lower VAT. If the Customs Service notices that the products are under-priced, it should notify the fiscal and control institutions, so that the last two can monitor the price-forming chain. “But we do have a problem with the individual commercial licenses. If the business sells the merchandise to an individual commercial license owner, who is not registered anywhere, and cannot be traced by the fiscal bodies, then the link breaks, and one cannot trace the sale recipient, the amounts sold, and cannot explain why the price is exaggerated”, explained Inga Ionesii. In a market economy, the importer includes into the price all expenses covering the transportation of the fruit, from the customs to the local market, yet such a great difference between the customs-stated price of 10 lei and the sale price of 22-25 lei is not normal, added Ionesii. According to the Ministry of Finance, the Main State Tax Inspectorate can only check whether those who sells bananas have paid all their taxes, but exotic fruits have an unregulated trade markup, since they don't have the status of a socially important product.